1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the roasting and barbecuing of foods particularly meat in a manner so as to have the foods to be prepared placed on pivotably mounted shelves, which are supported from support arms from a wheel, which may be electrically or other power-wise driven so as to rotate the pivoted shelves throughout the oven enclosure and in particular, the upper portion of the oven where heat and smoke accumulates where smoking is desired. To that end, an elongate wood receiving chamber is provided, which has just enough air holes to allow charring, but to prevent actual full combustion of the wood to thereby provide the full effect of smoke for smoking purposes.
Additionally, heretofore, barbecue ovens of the type for barbecuing and roasting meats have had open trays that allow grease and other fluids from the foods being heated to drip directly onto the burner sometimes clogging the burners and otherwise creating an accumulation of grease and other contaminants directly on the burners, which is difficult to clean. This disability is cured in the instant barbecue oven by having a sloped wood receiving compartment placed above the burners and running the extent of the lower portion of the fire chamber so as to prevent the grease and the fluids from coming in contact with the burners per se. Thus, indirect heating is achieved. A sloped bottom floor and simple drain to the outside of the oven provides for removing grease and other accumulated fluids as the need arises. The door for loading the chamber is so situated with respect to the vent, that vents smoke and heated air from the interior, so as to allow complete smoking and cooking by providing an upper smoke and heat filled chamber that remains constant during the processing period.
The oven of the invention may be mobile in which event it is positioned on a chassis, which is wheeled, so that the oven may be easily transported from one location to another.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art is quit ubiquitous with respect to various barbecue ovens and chambers, both mobile and stationary, but none combine the unique combination of elements that is present in the instant device in order to provide in one instance an a transportable barbecue oven, which has an upper smoke chamber and a lower fire chamber wherein the lower fire chamber has a smoke generating compartment positioned above the burners to prevent accumulation of grease and other fluids on the burners directly and further, wherein there is provided in the upper smoke chamber a revolving supporting member having pivotably mounted trays thereon, which are adapted to hold the foods to be processed and wherein the smoke generating compartment is configured to receive elongate pieces of wood in a manner that allows for charring, but does not allow for complete combustion of the wood placed therein.
However, a prior search has been made and the most specific references found are hereinafter enumerated, but none detract from the patentability of the disclosed invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,431,093; 5,205,207; 5,704,278
These references are directed to rotary barbecue devices in which the trays are positioned on a wheel to be rotated about a horizontal axis extending along the central longitudinal axis of the grill chamber. For example, in the '278 Patent, a shelf assembly 16 is mounted in a rotatable manner within the main chamber 12 between lateral sidewalls thereof, whereby the shelf assembly 16 is mounted in a rotatable manner on the main oven body enclosure 12 for rotating the shelf assembly 16. A gas burner system 20 is within the main chamber 12 below the shelf assembly 16. The air within the chamber 12 circulates with the help of the forced air circulation system 24.
In the '207 Patent, the heat chamber includes linear gas burners which heat the space in the chamber and also edibles mounted on a longitudinal spit which rotates about the top of the housing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,163,359; 4,869,163; 5,528,984
These Patents are directed to gas heated grills and smoking units which can sit inside the gas grills. For example, the '359 Patent describes a cooking apparatus comprising a pair of burners offset from a grill so that grease from the cooking food drips into a sump rather than onto the burners. A series of slats above the burners direct and distribute the heated air to the grill, each slat intercepting a different portion of the heated air. A drip ledge between the burners and the grill helps to channel the grease into the sump and away from the burners. A smoker intercepts some of the heated air and circulates it among wood chips, and returns smoke to the housing interior. The smoker 94 is in the form of a small chamber seated to rear wall 92 of housing 12 with a flange 160 and positioned just below drip ledge 136.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,051
This reference is directed to a barbecue grill apparatus which has a container with curved walls. A shaft is rotatably attached to a top portion of the container and a plurality of arms extend radially outwardly therefrom. The arms each have a grill attached thereto in such a manner that when the shaft is rotated, each of the new grills will maintain a horizontal orientation. A source of heat is disposed in the container, to one side of the lowest portion of the bottom of the container, so that grease dripping into the container will not accumulate directly over the flame to thereby prevent burning of such grease. In the '343 Patent, a plurality of food baskets are secured to the shaft and extend radially from the shaft toward and away from the combustion chamber. A spacing is provided between drawers with the fuel, which defines a grease drip space. The basket arrangement provides a high cooking capacity construction that eliminates turning over and basting the food, that minimizes the flaming of grease drippings. In the '645 Patent, the grill unit includes a drip pan for collecting grease, a drain opening in the drip pan, and a conduit leading from the drain opening to a grease collector.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,086,849; 4,108,055
These references are directed to mobile broiler apparatuses which include a trailer frame having road engaging wheels thereon and a hinge for connection to a vehicle. In the '055 Patent, rotatable food supporting devices are mounted on the support bracket in spaced relation from the bottom wall of the broiler chamber and vertically spaced above a controllable heat generator positioned in the spacing between the rotatable food supporting devices and the bottom wall of the chamber for cooking food.